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Lower House Approves 2024 Budget In First Reading

CZECHIA
  • The Chamber of Deputies approved the 2024 budget in first reading, sending it for further discussion in committees. This means that the main parameters of the spending plan (CZK1.94tn in revenue, CZK2.19tn in expenditures, CZK252bn deficit) cannot change from now on but lawmakers can still propose re-allocations of funds within this framework. The budget was supported by coalition MPs as well as Ivo Vondrak, who won his seat from ANO lists but quit the party earlier this year. ANO and SPD lawmakers claim that the real deficit will be higher, which in their view is masked by a CZK24bn loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB). Finance Minister Zbynek Stanjura countered with a rhetorical question: "if the EIB can lend us half a percentage point cheaper, why finance these expenses through the state budget with government bonds?".
  • E15 reports that the so-called "lex CEZ" restructuring the energy utility remains stuck in parliament, with the government struggling to identify the best timing for its passage.

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